Vices and Virtues
by Windbreak
Summary: Not exactly the ideal shining examples to follow, are we? - Janine/Falkner.


**vices and virtues**

_"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." _― C.S. Lewis

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><p>The night was dark and clouds obscured the moon as a certain purple-haired ninja crept into an alleyway, and all she could think was,<em> a<em> _perfect night for stealing_. Miles away, she could hear the wailing of a police siren, but it wasn't out to get her, that was for sure. Janine was far too skilled to get caught, as she had already studied the alarm systems of the buildings of every single large organization in both Kanto and Johto. And besides, she was an experienced thief, no one could even discern her from the shadows before she leaped away into the night. If she was surrounded, she could release into the air a cloud of Weezing's toxic fumes―not lethal, just particularly harmful―and escape to safety on her Crobat before anyone had a chance to recover, let alone pursue her.

After all, Janine _did_ specialize in poison.

No one had managed to actually snap a picture of her yet, to plaster all over their conspicuous wanted posters. She had been stealing for years and the police department had only recently been able to trace most of her former crimes to the same person. But still, even though the whole town was out to catch her, no one knew her name or face. And in the unlikely event that she did get caught, well, perhaps her position as a Gym Leader would keep her from being thrown in jail.

She shook her head, chasing away the thoughts that had begun to chafe at her sanity. She would not get caught tonight.

Reaching the building she was about to break into, Janine glanced quickly across the street. It was midnight and not many cars were out on the streets at such a late time, the town citizens were probably all asleep in their four poster beds. Such luxurious lives they lived. As a free agent, Janine took on a variety of jobs, and this forced her to live the life of a nomad. And there was also the fact that she was a wanted criminal. She couldn't stay in one place for very long.

But Janine didn't steal simply for the sake of stealing, she did it for the money, the extravagant rewards offered.

She sighed deeply and reached to her belt to pull out one of her signature Poke Ball shurikens, intending to use Venemoth for its String Shot, to carry her to the top of the building. But then a strange presence crept up on her, making the hair on the back of her neck rise―the sensation of someone else watching her. And it couldn't be simply her imagination, as she'd honed her senses to become undeniably sharp and acute.

Janine froze.

Alert now, she glanced up with narrowed eyes. There, standing across the street under a streetlight, was a young man with blue hair and an officer's uniform.

Falkner.

Falkner, the Gym Leader of Violet City. Falkner, a renowned _police officer. _He was known throughout the regions for his conscientiousness, putting his duty above all else.

Which meant she was about as good as dead. He wouldn't let her get away from this place without handcuffs.

_Don't panic,_ _just stay calm. _Janine searched Falkner's gaze with a cool, calculating, confident air. With a sharp intake of breath, she waited for him to make the first move, all the muscles in her body tensing, her hand darting instinctively to her shurikens. All the training she had done, the instructions from her father before he had disappeared from her life, ran through her mind. _Do not show_ _fear, or your opponent has already won another battle, the test of wills. _But Falkner stayed where he was, their eyes locked.

At last, his lips quirked up in a slight smile, and he nodded at her. That was all.

Both actions were subtle, and if she was not so tense and on edge, she would have missed them. In return, she offered him a smile of her own. It was tiny and hardly a smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Then, with a heart pounding faster than usual and a racing mind, Janine vanished into the night.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

yeah I realize that the quote at the beginning is kind of random, but whatevs. Not much romance in this, but I absolutely adore these two. FatherlyShipping is so awesome but no one knows about this pairing, so.. just spreading the love! :)


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